The Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) exams broke the 90 percent barrier this year and have shown a steady rise over the past few years, judging by the rising pass percentage. This spells hope for not just Goa’s future but India’s too. The pass percentage this year was 90.1, a two percent rise from 2015’s 88.1. Further proof that this percentage has been rising exponentially is the fact that the pass percentages were 85.5 in 2014, just two years ago; and 81.7 in 2011. Girls have been scoring more than boys and this year was no different. Most schools have done well too.
There has always been a great demand for seats in the three main streams “ Arts, Science and Commerce. In fact, the big three have been jostling for space at the very top of the four main streams; vocational being the distant cousin. Vocational was in fact at the top of the streams in terms of individual pass percentages in 2013/14, but slipped down to third place in 2015 and now in 2016. This year the vocational pass percentage was 89.4, with science at 89.9 and commerce at 91.1. However, this neither means that there have been less takers for vocational courses for one, nor that the pass percentages have dropped in this particular stream. In 2014, the pass percentage was 89 percent and in 2015 it was 85 percent.
The vocational stream though, is at an important juncture in its life. Never before has there been such a high demand for different skill sets in India. The country is one of the top suppliers of a skilled workforce to the world, but even within the country, the landscape in the job sector in changing. Take a look at some of the skill sets that are taught in the vocational course - Tourism and travel, bakery and confectionary, restaurant management, accountancy, insurance, horticulture, healthcare assistance and maintenance of electronic appliances. These courses are applicable across all classes of society and especially for those in the lower income bracket who want to move away from the manual labour workforce. But here’s the chink in the armour. There is no proper standardisation of vocational training in Goa and India. There is also inadequate educational infrastructure for this purpose. This needs to change.
The Goa University attempted to introduce a B. Voc (Bachelor of Vocation) course in 2015. The rules of the three-year degree course were interesting. One could take a break after the first year and seek employment, returning later to complete the second year which was a diploma course. Those who wished to study a further year were awarded a degree. This would have certainly created a foundation for vocational studies in Goa, but sadly not many colleges were takers. This year, only one college in Goa will be offering the diploma course.
While there are ample opportunities if one were to go for arts, science or commerce, where the progression into further education and then into the job sector has been cemented, there is a serious need to start introducing and encouraging more institutions to pick up the B. Voc course and help impart this to students.
The market has changed. The qualifications required for so many jobs now need some sort of educational background. If there are opportunities to study further then students should be given a chance to avail of them.
